PERCY COX & THE BIRTH OF IRAQ

In a historical sense this is the man responsible for today’s Gulf crisis. Sir Percy Cox was the British High Commissioner in Baghdad after World War I who in 1922 drew the lines in the sand establishing for the first time national borders between Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. And in each of these new states the British helped set up and consolidate ruling monarchies through which British banks, commercial firms, and petroleum companies could obtain monopolies.

First, a quick review of what brought on this crisis.Does the name Cox bring anything special to mind? Sir Percy Cox?

In a historical sense this is the man responsible for today’s Gulf crisis. Sir Percy Cox was the British High Commissioner in Baghdad after World War I who in 1922 drew the lines in the sand establishing for the first time national borders between Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. And in each of these new states the British helped set up and consolidate ruling monarchies through which British banks, commercial firms, and petroleum companies could obtain monopolies. Kuwait, however, had for centuries belonged to the Basra province of the Ottoman Empire. Iraq and the Iraqis never recognized Sir Percy’s borders. He had drawn those lines, as historians have confirmed, in order deliberately to deprive Iraq of a viable seaport on the Persian Gulf. The British wanted no threat from Iraq to their dominance of the Gulf where they had converted no less than ten sheikdoms, including Kuwait, into colonies. The divide-and-rule principle, so well-practised in this country since the beginning. In 1958 the British-installed monarchy in Iraq was overthrown in a military coup. Three years later, in 1961, Britain granted independence to Kuwait, and the Iraqi military government massed troops on the Kuwaiti border threatening to take the territory by force. Immediately the British dispatched troops, and Iraq backed down, still refusing to recognize the border. Similar Iraqi threats occurred in 1973 and 1976.

In 1915, as the British were moving troops from India into Mesopotamia through the Persian Gulf and Basra, Wilson was designated as the assistant, and then deputy, to Sir Percy Cox, the British Political Officer for the region. Based in Baghdad, he then became the acting Civil Commissioner for Iraq.During his tenure in Iraq, Wilson worked to improve the country’s administration according to the principles he learned in India. In doing so, he was nicknamed The Despot of Mess-Pot”. However, after the end of WW1, he found himself progressively opposed to other British officials, who believed that Arab countries should be granted independence under British supervision.

In 1919, during the Paris international conference which followed WW1, he was amongst the few who successfully recommended adopting the Arab name Iraq instead of the Greek name Mesopotamia. This name change was intended to cover the planned northern expansion of the newly created country under British Mandate to include the oil rich Mosul region of Kurdistan, in addition to the Mesopotamian provinces of Baghdad and Basra.In April 1920, at the Conference
of Sanremo, the League of Nations agreed to the British mandate over Iraq. In the spring and summer of 1920, various riots erupted across central and southern Iraq. These riots were often violently repressed by Wilson’s administration. The total number of Iraqi casualties of these riots was estimated at 10,000 people.In the summer of 1920, Wilson proposed a compromise, suggesting that Faysal, the former King of Syria, be offered the Iraqi throne. This proposal was intended to obtain support from the Iraqi population as well as by the British officials who favored a controlled Arab independence. It was eventually accepted by the British Government and by Faysal, but Wilson would not be there to participate in its implementation. The British government decided not to follow Wilson’s views, and instead grant independence to Iraq. The British government removed Wilson from his position in Iraq, and knighted him. Deeply disappointed by the turn of events, he left the public service and joined APOC as manager of their Middle Eastern operations.

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company using the oil reserves of the Middle East. APOC was renamed 1935 in Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and eventually became the British Petroleum Company (BP) in 1954, as one root of the BP Company today.

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company continued its large Persian operations although it changed its name to the AIOC in 1935. By 1950 Abadan had become the world’s largest refinery. In spite of diversification the AIOC still relied heavily on its Iranian oil fields for three-quarters of its supplies, and controlled all oil in Iran. The Iranian government wanted to take a significant share in the company, and would not negotiate when only offered a larger share of revenues. This culminated in the nationalization of the industry by the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1951, which led to the Abadan Crisis. Foreign countries refused to take Iranian oil and Abadan refinery was closed. AIOC withdrew from Iran and traded off its other reserves until military intervention restored its ownership in 1954, although it lost its monopoly. It was forced to operate as one member of a consortium of Iranian Oil Participants. That was the year AIOC changed its name to British Petroleum Company.

Anglo-Iranian Oil Dispute

The crisis began under the government of Clement Attlee. At the time, the British were taking 85% of Iranian oil profits. In March 1951, the Iranian parliament (the Majlis) voted to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and its holdings by passing a bill strongly backed by the elderly statesman Mohammed Mossadegh, a man who was elected Prime Minister the following April by a large majority of the parliament.The International Court of Justice was called in to settle the dispute, but a 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement, with recognition of nationalisation, was rejected by both the British government and Prime Minister Mossadegh. Direct negotiations between the British and the Iranian government ceased, and over the course of 1951, the British ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian government and explored the possibility of a coup against it. U.S. President Harry S. Truman was reluctant to agree, placing a much higher priority on the Korean War. The effects of the blockade and embargo were staggering and led to a virtual shutdown of Iran’s oil exports.

Mossadegh also held an important speech for the UN Security Council in New York which was covered by all newspapers and he was pictured on the Times magazine’s “Man of the Year” issue. After the U.S. chose a new president, the British changed their strategy of getting the U.S. on their side from economic/colonial to anti-communist. This new strategy found listening ears in the new U.S. president and the newly established CIA. The CIA finally toppled the democracy in Iran and brought back the Shah with the help of the British contacts/information it had from the British embassy and secret service.

After the regime change the Iranian oil started flowing again with the blessing of the U.S. and Britain under the power of a group of American and British oil companies of which included the Anglo Iranian Oil Company.